The Two Houses
Of Israel: An Introduction To Bible Prophecy
(Continued from first page Introduction)
The parable of the two sticks in Ezekiel
37:15-30 reveals that the coming reunion of the two houses will occur
only at the end of the present age, just before the last great battle
described in chapter 38. Similarly, it is when “the earth shall
be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea,” that “the outcasts
of Israel” and “the dispersed of Judah” are
gathered together “from the four corners of
the earth.” (Isa. 11: 9, 11, 13) Some say
that they were reunited in the land of Assyria shortly after their captivity
began. If so, how can the separate sets of latter day promises be fulfilled
to Judah and Israel if they were reunited 2700 years ago? Instead, we
are told that they would be rejoined when they had “One
Shepherd,” David’s Greater Son, the Messiah (Ezek.
37:24; John 11:51-52), which must await the full conversion of Judah
to Jesus Christ. Given this future time frame, the reunion could not
yet have fully occurred. This book presents much additional evidence
that the houses of Israel and Judah are still separate nations and peoples
in our world today, and clearly identifies the “lost
sheep of the house of Israel.” (Matthew
10:5; 15:24)
Indeed, there are many clues to the identity of lost Israel from both
the Bible and history. The Apocrypha tells us that they were conquered
by Assyria and dispersed to an uninhabited land, “where never
mankind dwelt” (2 Esdras 13:40-48), a
good description of uninhabited Europe of that day. Isaiah 62:2 says
that they would have “a new name.” They
would become “a company of nations” (Gen.
17:5), “many nations” (Gen.
35:11), and would take the gospel “to the ends
of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6). In fact, Ezekiel
tells us that the dispersion of the house of Israel was God’s way of
purifying this people: “I will scatter you among the nations
and disperse you through the countries, and I will consume
your uncleanness out of you.” (Ezek. 22:15) They
would have a new land, a new
heart, a new Spirit, and a New Covenant. (2
Sam. 7:10, Ezek. 36:24-26, Jer. 31:31) The result
would be that God would use them to set right the earth. (Isa.
42:3-7) Who could this people be in our modern world? The Bible
gives us many clues, including the heraldic emblems associated with each
of the tribes of Israel in Genesis 48 and Deuteronomy 33. In his book, Symbols
Of Our Celto-Saxon Heritage, Mr. W.H. Bennett presented
extensive full colour evidence identifying these tribes with several
modern nations of Europe.
The details in our cover painting also help to tell the story of these
“lost sheep” in our world today. The soldier in the foreground wears
brightly colored clothing, which was favored by the people popularly
called Scythian, the Greek form of the Medo-Persian word, Saka.
A later form of the word is “Saxon,” from the Medo-Persian, “Saca-Suni,” or
‘Sons of the Saca.’ In his book, The Story Of Celto-Saxon Israel, Mr.
W.H. Bennett provides scholarly evidence of the origin of the words, Scythian, Saka,
or Saxon in the word, Isaac.
The soldier’s colorful clothing reminds us of the Patriarch Joseph’s
famous “coat of many colours” referred
to in Genesis 37:3, 23, and 32. The origin and inspiration
of the famous Scottish Tartan patterns may also date back to Joseph.
Indeed, the word, ‘tartan,’ itself was a Semitic term for a military
official or captain of a host. (2 Ki. 18:17; Isa.
20:1)
In the soldier’s belt is a battle-axe, an identifying mark of Israel,
the nation called in Scripture, “God’s battle-axe.”
Jeremiah 51:20 says: “Thou art my battle
axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and
with thee will I destroy kingdoms.”
Other Biblical prophets echo this prophecy:
“Thus shall they be taking captive their captors,
and shall tread down their oppressors.” (Isa.
14:2)
“Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument,
having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains [large nations],
and beat them small, and shalt make the hills [small nations] as chaff.” (Isa.
41:15)
“Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion,
for I will make your horns of iron, and your hoofs of brass,
and you shall beat in pieces many peoples…” (Micah 4:13)
The battle-axe — a symbol of Israel — also symbolized their descendants,
the ‘Saka,’ or ‘Saxons,’ exactly as the prophets foretold. Remarkably,
it was only during the time of Israel’s defeat and dispersion by the
Assyrians and Babylonians, when the future looked darkest, that these
prophecies of victorious military conquests were given by Isaiah, Jeremiah,
and Micah! Clearly, the story of Ephraim-Israel did not end with the
8th century, B.C. destruction of the Northern Kingdom and its capital,
Samaria, but prophecy was fulfilled in succeeding centuries in the form
of ‘Scythian’ tribal victories in Asia and Europe.
Mountains in prophecy signify large nations, and hills are small nations.
Is there evidence that these Hebrew Saka-Scythians overthrew large kingdoms?
The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia tells of Assyria’s last days: “In
1923 the British Museum published a newly discovered Babylonian
chronicle giving a detailed description of the events which transpired…
[in] Assyria’s last days. We learn from it that… the Chaldeans
were combined with the Medes and with the Scythians,
[who were] an important factor in the weakening of Assyria;
that…in 612… proud Nineveh fell before an assault of
the Medes, who were aided by Nabopolassar
and a contingent of Scythians…” (I:566-567) Yes,
the SAKA-Scythians, or house of Isaac, played a prominent part in the
overthrow of the Assyrian Empire, and other kingdoms as well.
Despite such conquests, they found themselves moving ever westward through
the centuries, for God foretold that He would, “let the blessing
come upon the head of Joseph… his horns are like the
horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people
together to the ends of the earth.” (Deut.
33:16-17) Joseph is an important tribe of the house of Israel whose
heraldry is now found in Britain, and the ‘ends of the earth’ is a fitting
symbol for Western Europe at the bounds of the Atlantic Ocean.
Famous respected Bible scholar, Dr. James Augustus Strong,
compiler of Strong’s Concordance and other works, made this statement, “The
larger proportion of the Ten Tribes… were, in a state
more or less pure, propagated to distant regions by the great national
migrations proceeding from Central Asia.” (McClintock
and Strong’s Cyclopedia, X:545) These great national migrations
were from Asia westward, and included the Mongols, Huns, Slavs, and other
tribes who pushed, or were pushed by, the lost tribes of Israel into
Europe. Dr. Strong’s comments indicate that the house of Israel fled
from Assyria northward through the Caucasus Mountains, where they were
caught up in the westward migration of peoples and settled in Europe.
Memories of their former homeland in the Mid-East were not entirely forgotten,
for the famous Roman geographer and historian, Pliny (Natural
History, book 4) recorded the Saka-Scythian statement that they
were “descended from slaves.” The Israelites,
of course, were slaves in Egypt, and captives in the land of Assyria,
as well. If these SAKA were not Israelites, then to what ancestral captivity
were they referring? As these tribes migrated across Europe to the Baltic
Sea, Pliny records that in their language, “the name for it is Morimarusa,
that is, [the] ‘Dead Sea.’”[ibid.]The
Baltic Sea, being connected with the Atlantic Ocean, is very salty like
the Dead Sea of Palestine; but it is teeming with life and far from dead.
They obviously carried with them knowledge of an ancestral dwelling near
a salty body of water called the Dead Sea. They would not have named
the Baltic after the Dead Sea of ancient Israel unless they were Israelites.
In fact, early Greek historian, Herodotus, recorded in his History (4:76) that
one of the Scythian kings was named “Saulius,” evidently
named after the first Hebrew king, Saul.(I Sam. 9)
On the soldier’s head is a distinctive high-peaked hat that Harper’s
Bible Dictionary (“dress” p.227) depicts as an important
part of the “Hebrew royal attire.” It
is called a “miter,” and was worn by
the Israelite high priests. (Ex.28:37) Herodotus recorded
in his History (7:64) that, “The Sacae, who
are Scythians, have high caps tapering to a point and stiffly upright...” This
style hat is found on the Behistun Rock, where Scythian king Skunka is
depicted wearing it. The Cambridge History Of Iran, [vol.3:2:913] states, “We
furthermore have some stories about Jewish officials
bearing Parthian names, Arda, Arta,
and Pyl-y Barish, who had a mounted retinue of troops
and wore high hats.” In Europe of later centuries, it became
known as a “Wizard’s Cap,” often with the depiction of a half-moon, the
symbol of Mohammedanism. Far from being of Muslim origin, the moon symbol
apparently denotes the eastern origin of this ancestral clothing.
Other distinctive dress of the early European Scythian tribes included
“polychrome” enameled jewelry, which is known to have originated in Medo-Persia
where the Israelite lost tribes were resettled by Assyria.Russian
archaeologist, Michael Rostovtzeff said,“The style as such develops
in the East, in Iranian lands, as we see from the Oxus
and Susa treasures.” (Iranians
and Greeks in South Russia, pp. 173-4) A book on Persian art shows
an ancient Persian breastpin, displaying the intricate interloped pattern
that has come to be associated with the Celtic peoples.
The horses depicted are of a strong, stocky short-legged breed that is
now extinct, except for some mixed descendants that are found today in
Spain. These horses were multi-use, for although they had some oxen,
they also used horses in a variety of capacities. In fact, according
to Hebrew scholar, Dr. Isaac E. Mozeson, our English word, horse, itself
comes from the Hebrew word, Horesh, meaning
to plow. [Radio interview on ‘Southwest Radio Church’ broadcast] These
horses were well adapted for the rough and mountainous terrain that was
the scene of their travels.
The ancient Greek historian, Herodotus (Bk. 4), tells us that
the Scythians traveled with their wives, children, and belongings in
covered wagons, perhaps presenting a picture reminiscent of the early
American pioneers in their famous ‘Conestoga Wagons’ on the Western frontier.
Viewing the picture above, in the far distance a Scythian wagon train
is dwarfed beneath the towering Caucasus Mountains.
The region south of the Caucasus exhibits a somewhat dry sandy and rocky
soil, with wild grasses and scrub brush dotting the landscape. North
of the Caucasus, however, was the fertile region of the present Ukraine,
the ‘bread basket’ of the ancient world. Historians tell us that the
Scythians sold tremendous amounts of grain each year to Greece and other
Mediterranean nations whose soil was poorer.
A fascinating description of the Caucasian Cambria, or Crimea, was given
by historian R.W. Morgan in the mid-19th century. He says, “It
is still what [historians] describe it as being 3500 years ago; the East
of it covered by salt-lagoons; a large portion occupied by the Sivash
or Putrid Sea; the rest composed of spits, reefs, and
sand banks. The Southern part, which they called the Summer
Land... is the Naples of the Russian Empire. ‘The weather,’ writes the
Times’ correspondent, from the Crimea, June 16th, 1855, ‘is
hot on the low-grounds, desperately hot, and even in the heights, the
thermometer within doors ranges above 90 degrees in the daytime... but
almost every day there are some hours of cool breezethat sets in at 9
o’clock and holds on till 3 or 4. You descend amid waving grasses, giant
thistles, and regaled by the fragrance of a thousand flowers. Diverge
an instant from the path, and you trample upon vetches and lupins, convulvulus
and poppies, geraniums and wild flowers, with innumerable other blossoms
of the rank and file.’” (Cambrian History, p. 20)
The Caucasus Mountains soared thousands of feet above sea level, causing
some historians to suppose that they were impassible. To the contrary,
these peaks were traversed many times by both Scythian and Persian. A
‘Daryal Pass’ valley route sometimes called, “the Pass of Israel,” is
clearly marked out in red in the Cambridge History Of Iran, (vol.
3:I:522); it was a favorite passage-way to Europe from the Mid-East.
There are many evidences of Hebrews in the Caucasus. The Jewish
Encyclopedia states, “..the Caucasus Jews
claim to be descendents of the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel…
the Georgians are equally certain of their descent from the Israelites
who were taken from Palestine by Shalmanesar
[726-722 B.C.].” (III:628) Do we have any proof that
Hebrews were in the Caucasus and that they were in fact lost tribes of
the house of Israel? The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia carries
a fascinating article documenting the early presence of Hebrews in the
Caucasus Mountains. It states, “The first immigration of [Israelites]
into the Trans-Caucasus (supposed… to have taken place
in the 7th century, B.C.E., during
the reign of the Assyrian kings) is recounted in ancient Armenian
and Georgian chronicles. According to these chronicles, [Israel]
arrived in these regions as early as the beginning of the 6th century,
B.C.E. The first arrivals were probably free merchants, while the later
partly came as captives…” (VIII:26) What
Israelites were in captivity in the 6th and 7th centuries, B.C.? These
were the lost ten tribes of the house of Israel, found in the Caucasus
Mountains of Eastern Europe a few short years after their dispersion,
according to the ancient Armenian and Georgian Chronicles.It
is also significant that the Caucasus Mountain nation we call, ‘Georgia,’
is known to its inhabitants by its native name of ‘Sakartvelo,’ and another
early town there is called, ‘Sachkhere,’ perhaps revealing the presence
of the ‘Saka’ in that region in early times.
The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia continues,
“tombstones were discovered, dating from the 4th to
5th centuries, one of them bearing
an inscription in Aramaic.” (VIII:26) Aramaic
was the language of the region of Halah and Habor, where Assyria settled
many of the captive Israelites. Several of these tombstones, from a Hebrew
graveyard in the Crimea, north of the Caucasus, were translated in the Transactions
of the Society of Biblical Archaeology in 1874. One read, “This
is the tombstone of BUKI, the son of Isaac
the priest; may his rest be in Eden, at the time of the salvation ofIsrael.
In the year 702 of the years of our exile.” This
tombstone dates to 6 A.D., during the time of Christ. Three such tombstones
are reproduced on page 14.
The Scythian soldier is shown carrying a banner with a rampant red
lion, the emblem of the tribe of Judah. Many Judahites were captured,
along with the ten tribes of the house of Israel, at the time of the
Assyrian conquest.
Second Kings 18:13 records: “Now in
the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib
king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah,
and took them.” This conquest included major cities of Judah such
as Lachish (2 Chronicles 32:9), depicted on the Assyrian
wall carving below. Only Jerusalem was spared the Assyrian conquest, so members
of both the house of Israel and house of Judah were taken into captivity.
Is it coincidence that the royal banner of England shows two symbols, the lion
and the stag (or unicorn), the emblems of both of the houses of Israel and
Judah? Yet a significant number of Judah were spared Assyrian conquest, to
be used of God as His Sanctuary (Psa. 114:2) and be reunited
completely with their brethren of the ten tribes at the end of the age.
Until that day arrives, we have God’s sure Promise, “For thus saith the
LORD; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house
of Israel.” (Jer. 33:17) Somewhere in the world, David’s
descendants have reigned in an unbroken succession throughout subsequent
centuries. The land of Canaan in Palestine became a virtually uninhabited
wasteland after the Assyrian and Babylonian conquests, so it is certain
that this prophecy was not fulfilled there. Instead, we saw that many
of the tribe of Judah were exiled with the house of Israel, so David’s
descendants may indeed have reigned with the ten tribes in new homelands.
The poor rocky soil of the Caucasus would have caused most of them to
continue north into lands beyond. Where could David’s descendants have
reigned over the house of Israel except in Europe?
That Israel migrated northwestward from Palestine through the Caucasus
and into Europe, either in whole or in part, is not a new theory. Numerous
historians have noted for centuries the solid evidence to support it.
As an example, renowned Celtic scholar Edwin Guest, in his 1883 study, Origines
Celticae (i.e., ‘The Origins of the Celts’) had this to say of the
tribes who migrated into Europe in early times: “I think there
is reason to believe that Shemitic races were mixed
up in the great movement of peoples we have been discussing.” (p.
226, emphasis his own) The real question therefore is not whether
Hebrew tribes migrated to early Europe (the evidence indicates that they
did), but instead, what percentage of Europeans are of Hebrew descent?
The information gathered in these pages shows it to be significant in
many parts of Europe.
The evidence abounds. Join us now on this exciting journey as we learn
more about Israel and the prophecies.
-adapted from the introduction to the book,
“The Story Of Celto-Saxon Israel,” published by The Servant People, and available
at our booksite: http://www.migrations.info.
